Chapter 91

**LUCIANA'S POV**

I drifted into darkness, my mind surrendering to the emptiness that existed within.

Suddenly I was trapped, stuck and unable to move an inch.

An unfamiliar figure hovered over me, its presence suffocating.

"Be careful, Luciana..." The soft familiar voice rang through my mind, reminding me of a previous time. The voice did say, She's my wolf, right?

I wonder how I can hear my wolf speak, isn't we one?.

Another figure appeared, standing beside me. 

The first figure's hands closed around my throat. I struggled to free myself from her grip, but I couldn't.

I gasped for air, my vision blurring. The second figure raised a dagger at my chest, and before I could scream, I felt the dagger pierce through my chest.

Suddenly I jolted awake, gasping for air.

"Luciana, are you okay?" I heard a familiar voice from a distance. 

My weak eyes drifted to the couch beside the bed, where they met with Damon's concerned face.

Disappointment flickered within me, and I'm certain it was reflected through my eyes.

Recalling earlier days at the mansion, it dawned on me that Damon had always been kind and warm towards me. Recipes this simple gesture wouldn't hurt, right?.

"I... I think so," I stammered with a small smile.

He helped me sit up, his hand cradling my back.

"What happened?" I asked, looking around the room with a puzzled expression. "Something doesn't feel right."

"You had a nightmare," he replied, although his gaze was skeptical.

I rubbed my temples, trying to recall what seemed to be amiss, but no matter how much I tried, that part of my memory seemed rather blank.

The door suddenly creaked open, and Lyra came in. A surprised expression found its way to her face the moment she saw me awake. Apparently she wasn't expecting that.

Noticing my lingering gaze on her, she let out a small smile, bowed and walked out of the room.

I stared at Damon and found him also staring skeptically at her.

Not only me.

I suddenly felt a short headache, and before I could understand why, it left just the same way it came, then memories suddenly flooded my mind.

A phone call, rushing downstairs, bumping into Lyra, then the strange lady.

"Celine" I gasped, trying to get down from the bed, but Damon held me back.

"Where are you going?"

"Celine needs me, she called earlier, and I was about to leave before I got attacked" I said, trying to free myself from his grip.

"It's three a.m and there's no way I'm letting you step out at this time. Whatever Celine needs you for, you can wait." He said sternly, but I still struggled with him.

When everyone else rejected me, it was Celine who took me in and treated me like hers. Now she needs me, imagine me not being there.

"Let me go, it's important I see her now" I said, growing frustrated. What's his own business in the whole thing?

"She can wait, besides no one steps into or outside this mansion once it's after midnight." He said, as though trying to convince me or something. "Unless it's a really serious emergency."

My eyes dilated in shock, before locking with his pleadingly. 

"Focus on getting better first, you'll head home later in the day."

I shot him an angry glare. His supposed protectiveness isn't even helping matters. What if Celine is in serious danger?

"What kind of danger do you think she'll be in, and unable to take care of herself?" He said, his lips slowly curling into a smirk. "I wonder how strong you think you are."

"I'm not even claiming to be strong," I pouted.

If I was strong, it'd have been easier to avoid getting bullied when I was much younger, but I was too vulnerable and prone to bullying. 

...

"Get out!" Mom yelled at the maid who brought me food. "On whose orders did you bring them?"

The maid trembled on the spot, avoiding Mom's harsh glares as she bit her nails nervously. "I...it's master Lorenzo."

The glare on Mom's face softened, but that was only for a moment, as it returned almost immediately. "And?? You work for Lorenzo, right?"

"I'm sorry ma'am" the maid apologized, falling on her knees.

"Just get out" Mom snapped, and the middle-aged lady rushed out of the room. She must be so excited to have left in one piece.

"M..mom" I stuttered, staring weakly at her from the bed, my gaze solely on the tray of food the maid brought.

"I've not had anything to eat in the past week," I whispered. Although I knew how much she didn't care, and would gladly get rid of me once she got the chance, I was somehow hoping she'd at least take pity on my innocent soul.

"I planned to starve you for two weeks...but looking at you, you might just die if I did that" she grinned, and the next thing she did shocked me to the bones. She dropped the tray on the ground roughly, causing it to break and the food in it to pour all over the floor.

"I don't want you dead, at least not yet…so feel free to eat from the floor, unless you're not hungry...you should even be glad Lorenzo still cares."

She pushed the door open and walked out of the room without sparing me a glance.

…

"I'm not strong," Luciana repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. "But Celine needs me, and I won't abandon her. This has nothing to do with being strong."

Damon's expression softened, but I knew better than to think he'd let me step out.

Since he came up with the whole idea of me being his mate, he's been acting unnecessarily overprotective, and at some point it gets annoying.

"Fine...if you insist, then we'll go together once the sun rises."

I hesitated, unsure if I could trust him, something suddenly jerked within me as I recalled the nightmare I had a while ago ...